When it comes to predicting the ranking of the Eurovision Song Contest, sometimes a favourite emerges before all the participating songs have even been selected. As history shows though, the road to Eurovision glory is often far from predictable.

Reaching the top 4 is definitely a goal for each of the participating country. But some countries already got used in the past year with always being close to the win and in Lisbon will want to finally achieve even better.

Belgium was a clear favorite of winning during the last 3 years and the results comes to confirm this fact. Loic Nottet placed second in the semi-final in Vienna, finishing 4th in the Grand Final, the same position which Blanche got last year in Kiev with “City Lights”. Aiming to continue this trend, Belgium has selected this year Sennek and her unique song “A Matter of Time”, being one of the fans favorite before the contest. Well, it might just be a matter of time until Eurovision heads to Bruxelles.

Bulgaria has the best average placement in the Grand Finals of Eurovision. Even if they struggled to qualify in the past [only qualified once between 2005-2013], after the withdrawal at the editions held in 2014 and 2015, Bulgaria came back in Stockholm 2016 and since then, they worst placement in the Grand Final in a 4th place. Overall, with only 3 appearances in the Grand Final, the Balkan country got a 5th place (2007), a 4th place (2016) and a 2nd place last year in Kiev. The band Equinox and the song “Bones” are between the favorites this year, hoping to at least mentain Bulgaria’s good results if not even better than that.

Taking a quick look at Sweden’s results in the past 7 years, it is almost impossible to believe that their 2nd worst result is a 5th placement. Moreover, the Sweds stepped on the podium at 4 of the last 7 Eurovision Song Contests, making from the North European country one of the most succesfull from this point of view. Here is to mention the impact that their national selection Melodifestivalen has all around Scandinavia, this fact making the singers and producers wanting to gain popularity and of course, to represent their country in Eurovision. Benjamin Ingrosso is their representant this year in Lisbon, with the song “Dance you off”. The entry seems to be a tribute to all the Eurovision fans who loved Michael Jackson and the rhythm reminds of the big artist.

Hoping for a top 4 presence this year are, of course, the 3 big favorites: Israel’s Netta, Estonia’s Elina and Mikolas from Czech Republic and also countries that haven’t been inside the top 4 since few years, including Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands and Norway. A remarkable achievement would be a 4th place for Cyprus, which is represented this year by Eleni Foureira and the song “Fuego”. If she manages to get into the top 4, that would be Cyprus’ best results ever…and they have participated in the contest since 1981.